[Chicago-Spike]

Installing Progressive fork springs (Gunny)

Submitted by Gunny of the VTXOA What you’ll need – One set of Progressive Fork Springs Torque Wrench 17mm Socket Head 17mm Closed End Ratchet Wrench (Real handy tool since working around the fork cap can be tight.) 6mm Torx wrench socket (it’s an Allen Wrench head – but they call them Torx heads. I bought a full metric set from Northern Tools that fits my ¼” socket wrench – real handy when working on the beast.) A good bike lift Start by lifting the bike – you want the front wheel completely off the ground. Lay a towel over the front fender – and have several shop towels ready – you WILL drip some fork oil off the old springs when you pull them out. There are some wire anchors set under the bars over each fork cap. They slide off the metal anchor point towards the center of the bars. This gives you just enough room to use the torque wrench later. (Don’t worry – they slide right back on when you’re done.) Doing one fork start to finish at a time – With the 6mm Torx Head socket and a socket wrench loosen the upper pinch bolt just enough to take the pressure off the fork cap. It is the pinch bolt located just below and to the rear of the fork cap. (You only need to loosen it about 1 turn.) Using the closed end self ratcheting 17mm wrench slowly loosen and remove the fork cap. (Keep in mind that the fork spring is pushing up on it from below – keep pressure down on it with your palm as you unscrew it or it may just join the Chinese in orbit!) Once the Fork Cap is removed take the 4” spacer out of the fork and lay it on a clean towel on the floor. Stick your finger into the fork and remove the small metal washer that’s lying on top of the spring. Lay it next to the spacer. Slowly remove the spring – you can bend it forward to clear the bars and slowly pull it out. Keep a shop towel around it as you pull it out as it will be dripping with fork oil. Insert the new Progressive Spring into the fork. Although Progressive says it doesn’t matter go ahead and insert it with the closely packed end in first. Put the metal washer in the fork – laying it on top of the spring. Put the 4” spacer back in the fork on top of it all. Now the fun part – pushing down on the fork cap to seat it in the fork tube use the 17” self ratcheting wrench to screw it back in. (Here’s where you find out that the socket wrench is to big – but a self ratcheting wrench is perfect for this. It takes some force to push it all in and seat it – just take your time and don’t force it if the threads don’t seat properly. Just back out and start again. Once it’s screwed in (don’t screw it real tight) – use the 17mm socket head and the Torque Wrench to tighten it to 17 lbf-ft. Using the 6mm Torx head socket and the Torque Wrench tighten the Upper Pinch Bolt to 17 lbf-ft. Reattach the wire anchor on the bottom of the bars. Clean up any drops of fork oil. Repeat above on the other fork. It sounds like a lot – but I did it in about 30 minutes and am admittedly mechanically inept. Enjoy the ride. GUNNY
Last update: 2004-09-01 09:58
Author: Ceetro

 

[Chicago-Spike]

Shock Bushings

Shock Bushings

Bad shock bushings can cause more than a rough ride, they may contribute to "wobble" or high/low speed weaving..

Bushings shown on Valk and VTX

If you need, you can print these installation instructions:

There's not much to this, but a couple things will make your job easier. If
you can put the bike on a lift, it will take the load off the tire and relax
the shock. You can pull the top shock mount without removing the bottom.
When you install the new bushing, it is easier if you lube it. You can use
any lube you like, but I prefer silicone spray. Put the bushing on the shock
mount, then slip the shock over the bushing. Put your seat back on, and
you're ready to ride!

I took a few pics as we did it:
Jack up bike & remove shock;

Tap out old bushing with socket.
Heat eye;

White grease eye & tap in new bushing with plastic face hammer;

Slightly compress shock with ratchet strap & reinstall, drawing shock onto shaft with mounting bolts;

Finished. Centered in eye;

Time to roadtest!! :mrgreen:

Author: Fossil (Not)

Made in USA

 

[RetroRyder]

Fork Caps

Hey, Spike...Your post on progressive fork springs was very helpful. I still had one problem though. I could not hold the cap & springs down in the tube long enough to get the fork cap started. :cus: After trying several different things and a lot of head scratching:dontknow: I looked on my garage wall and there were several rachet straps hanging on a rack. I inserted the spacer into the tube placed the cap on top (with a rachet wrench on the cap) hooked one end of rachet strap to my crash bars, the other end to my front axle, looped the strap over top of everything, put a little pressure on everything with the strap, made sure everything was in alignment and started racheting away. That pulled the cap nice and evenly into the tube until I felt the threads seat, then tightened the cap with the rachet wrench. Changed a gut-straining job into a piece of cake. Thought you might want to add this to your tips to help someone else. :thumbup:

 

[mikeybiker]

I think I got the replacing the fork spring part but what about the fork oil itself. Don't it get changed also?

 

[vtxrosa]

I think I got the replacing the fork spring part but what about the fork oil itself. Don't it get changed also?

Yes, turn the each fork assembly up side down and slowly compress the forks several times. You will see more old oil coming out. Measure the amount from each fork. Should be around 15 ozs.

 

[Madness_MC]

Steering Neck Bearing Adjustment Method

Without having the correct socket and spring-tension scale to measure the triple tree drag as suggested in the service manual, I use Channel-Lock pliers just large enough to get the job done. I've been doing it this way for years and have developed a "feel" for adjusting the steering neck adjuster and lock nuts. Haven't had any failures due to over- or under-tightening in the 40+ years I've been working on bikes.
When using the replacement Timken-style, tapered roller bearings you pack them with grease in the same manner that you would an automotive wheel bearing - very liberally - making certain to squeeze the (automotive disc brake wheel) bearing grease into the roller assembly and wipe a liberal amount on the outside of the bearing, too. Put additional grease up onto the bearing race and stuff just a bit extra up into the steering neck.
Assemble the lower triple tree without the fork tubes at this time. Wipe any excess bearing grease from the steering stem threads and add a few drops of light oil to the threads. This will allow the adjuster nut to turn freely for the remainder of the procedure. Tighten down the adjuster nut until you begin to feel a slight resistance to tightening. Begin to work the triple tree in full left-to-right swings (lock-to-lock is another term), while continuing to tighten the adjuster nut in 1/8 turn increments until the triple tree can be turned only when considerable force is applied. Back off the adjuster nut a 1/4 turn. The adjuster nut may now occasionally stay stationery when you move the triple tree lock-to-lock. Snug it down another 1/8 turn, or until the adjuster nut turns with the steering stem and tree.
Assemble the fork tubes into the lower triple tree allowing enough of the tubes to poke thru the top clamp onto in a minute or so. Run the axle through the forks, lightly tighten the fork clamp bolts on the lower triple clamp only at this time, just enough to hold the forks in place. Install the top triple clamp in place, but do not tighten any of its bolts at this time. Now swing the triple tree/fork tube assembly lock-to-lock, "feeling" for any binding. You will probably notice that the forks tend to "flop" from side-to-side, indicating a bit of looseness in the adjustment.
Remove the top triple tree and again, using 1/8 turns, tighten down the adjuster nut gradually, feeling for any tightness or binding during the applied swing motion. You may have to remove and install the top triple clamp several times during this process. Continue tightening until a heavy drag or resistance during the lock-to-lock swing is noticed. Back off the last 1/8 turn and observe the amount of "drag" to the swing motion. There is a measurement that is recommended in foot-pounds using a tension scale, but most of us have never invested in such a tool, hence the "feel" method works well enough for Timken-style bearings.
Install the lock-plate, and the lock nut until it makes contact with the lock plate. Take a shock (adjuster) spanner wrench and position it to hold the adjuster nut while you use your large Channel-Lock pliers to snug down the lock nut. Once tightened sufficiently and lined up properly, bend the tabs on the lock plate and you’re nearly home free. Install the top triple clamp and the top clamp steering stem nut, then torque the stem nut to specs in the service manual. Loosen the pinch bolts in the lower triple clamp one at a time and position your fork tubes to the proper height, snugging the top triple clamp pinch bolts, then the lower triple clamp pinch bolts. Torque the pinch bolts to the manual’s specs, if so desired - otherwise the "German Guut-en-Tite" method is acceptable.

Now you're done with the steering neck bearing adjustment process.

 

[toasted_3111979]

1300 Fork seal replacement/fork rebuild

Ok...let me preface this by saying I'm also upgrading the fork lowers to chromed units from Stump. But I did have a leaking seal so why not upgrade. :?

And I'd like to warn that I kept the pics bigger for details. If they need to be smaller let me know.

This is what I've got to change out on the bike. New fork lowers, new fork seals and a chromed kick stand which I'll cover later.

Tools I used..
M6 and M8 T-handled allen wrenchs
12mm, 14mm, 17mm & 22mm 6point sockets
3/8 racket
Small and medium flat head screw driver
Hook pick
Locktite-blue tube medium strength
2 cheap 13x9 aluminum cake pans
Bungee cords
Newspapers for laying the forks and internals on
Plenty of shop towels. This is a messing job.
Brake cleaner
32oz bottle of fork oil...10w or 15w your preferance
Cheap plastic measuring cup. At least 20oz size.

First thing I recommend is to break loose the front wheel(22mm), the pinch bolts(6mm allen) and break loose the two 12mm front brake caliper mount bolts from the forks.

Once that's done, if you have a windshield that mounts to the forks you'll need to remove that.

Now jack the bike up and secure it on a stand.

Once you have it up and secure, remove the brake completely from the wheel, securing it to the right side footpeg or anywhere out of the way with bungee cords.

Remove the wheel by pulling the axle out the left side, but make sure you're holding the wheel.

Now, with the M6 allen wrench loosen the top triple tree pinch bolt just a little bit. You're gonna leave the lower one tight for right now.

Take the 17mm socket and remove the fork cap. It's under some pressure from the spring. Have a shop rag handy when you pull the spacer, washer and spring out. They will drip quite a bit of oil. Do this to both forks.

Now that the springs are out you can take the M6 T-handle and remove the center bolt and washer through the hole in the bottom of the fork lower. Make sure you have one of the cake pans under the fork you're working on. Removing this bolt drains the fork.

Be sure to get the copper washer with the bolt. I did have one stay in the fork, but the pick got it out to be cleaned and reused.

Once both forks are done draining for the most part you can loosen the lower triple tree pinch bolt(m-8 ) and slide each fork out carefully.

Take one fork, stand it on it'd lower end and take the smallest flat head or pick and gently pry the dust seal up and slide it off the fork. If undamaged it can be reused after a light cleaning.

And I'd highly recommend working on one fork at a time just to keep the parts on the same side they came off of.

Now to remove the retaining ring. I used the smallest flat head I had to pop one side of the ring out of the retaining groove.

Once the retaining ring is out, grasp the lower fork in one hand and the upper fork(slider) in the other hand. With quick pulling motions pull the two apart.

Once apart slide the old seal up off the slider

Slide the guide bushing up with the flat washer.

Now, here's a big tip I learned doing this. You need a special tool according to the service manual...nah...not really.

When you take the forks apart the guide bushing expands back and is a bear to put back in without said tool. But, the easy and much cheaper way is to buy new guide bushings.

Honda part #51414-krc-003 $22 at my dealer vs $70+ for the tool.

This is the forks completely apart. Labeled in order from bottom to top. Reverse the number order for reinstallation.

Now, since it's all apart and you have a bundle of parts laid out it's time to clean them with some brake cleaner.

Once all the parts are clean, drop the Oil lock piece closed end down into the fork lower. Or like me drop the piston ring and rebound spring down into the fork slider and then slide the oil lock piece onto it to keep it on alignment.

Slide the slider with the piston ring and oil lock piece back into the fork lower. Add some lock tight to the center bolt and reinstall it. This locks the two pieces together.

Once you're here you can reinstall the guide bushings. I slide them down as far as I could by hand then put the thick washer back on top to drive the bushing back into the fork with a flathead or chisel. Careful not to dent/scratch the slider tube.

Once the bushing is flush with the lip leave the washer in and you may now install the new fork seal.

I got the Leak Proof Classics part #7247..J&P part #zz23193

Coat the seal with some new fork oil and slide it into the fork per the instructions of which ever brand you get.

I used the rounded part of the pick to push the seal all the way in, placed the new seal washer over it and reinstalled the retaining spring.

Clean up the dust seal and reinstall it. Congrats, you've done one side of the seal install.

Once you've got the other one done, reinstall the forks onto the bike.

I dropped the spring and washer in each side, then refilled each side with 15.5 oz of oil..more or less changed the ride...less makes it softer and more makes it firmer.

Just a small tip to reinstalling the fork cap. Have a helper gently pull the lower fork down a bit as you reinstall the cap to help make things alot easier than you trying to press down and turn the cap at once.:-o

Once you have both forks reinstalled and refilled reinstall the front wheel and brake in reverse order of the removal.

This is the front end back together with the chromed lowers and the new front Undertake mocked up. I ran outta weekend to do the write ups on it and the HID light. I'll do those my next days off.:shock:

 

[TennX]

Honda poly bushing part #

If you want to replace your stock bushing with the newer honda poly here is the part number you will need 4...

52489-HN0-671

 

[bluestreakrem]

Just a correction to the detailed reassembly procedure.

The Back Up Washer, that is installed between the oil seal and guide bushing, appears to be shown as installed upside down in the picture. The Back Up Washer is not dimensionally the same on both sides. One side of the washer has rounded edges, the other side has sharp square edges. The washer should be installed with the square edge facing the guide bushing, as per the manual.

 

[TennX]

Mcmaster Carr bushing number.... http://www.mcmaster.com/#6389k344/=10riul1

 

[Chicago-Spike]

bump